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Italy: Europe’s Populist Fantasyland

Italy: Europe’s Populist Fantasyland
Italy’s Labor and Industry Minister and deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio (R) waves as he arrives with Italy’s Interior Minister and deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini for the swearing in ceremony of the new government at Quirinale Palace in Rome on June 1, 2018 ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
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The populist coalition in Italy has presented an “economic” program and a threat to the European Union that makes Greece look like a walk in the park. The Italians have more debt, are more intertwined with the European banking system, and have even drawn up a plan on how to leave the Euro. 

But where do Italy’s economic problems come from? They are self-inflicted and not due to the Euro.

Daniel Lacalle
Daniel Lacalle
Author
Daniel Lacalle, Ph.D., is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of the bestselling books “Freedom or Equality” (2020), “Escape from the Central Bank Trap” (2017), “The Energy World Is Flat”​ (2015), and “Life in the Financial Markets.”
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